The Footlight Players opens 85th season with Broadway musical ‘A Chorus Line’
July 6, 2016
featured image courtesy of Stan Foxworthy/Foxworthy Studios
CHARLESTON, SC – One of Charleston’s most historic theatres opens its 85th season with the award-winning Broadway musical “A Chorus Line.” The Footlight Players has compiled a talented cast to sing, dance and act in the production, which opens on Aug. 5 at the Footlight Players Theatre, 20 Queen St.
Directed by Robin Burke with musical direction by Manny Houston and choreography by Megan Pue, “A Chorus Line” examines one day in the lives of 17 dancers, all vying for a spot in the chorus line of a Broadway musical. After the first round of cuts, the director and choreographer, asks each dancer to speak about themselves. Discomfort opens into revelation, confession leads to redemption and, within the bright, outwardly homogeneous chorus, the audience begins to see each dancer’s individuality.
Following several workshops and an Off-Broadway production, “A Chorus Line” opened on Broadway on July 25, 1975, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. It became a critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations (winning nine) and earning the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1985, “A Chorus Line” was made into a movie starring Michael Douglas, Terrence Mann and Michael Blevins.
Burke is no stranger to this production, having been a cast member in the Footlight production in 1992.
“I am very happy to be able to direct this production of ‘A Chorus Line,’ Burke said. “It is one of the great shows of Broadway and one of the longest running. It is a timeless look into the lives of musical actors, and gives the audience a look at why we do what we do.”
The cast includes several Footlight regulars, including Cameron Christensen in the roll of Zach, the show’s director. A graduate student at the College of Charleston, Christensen starred in last season’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” as Freddy Benson and “Hay Fever” as Simon Bliss. Another Footlight regular, Taylor Ann Spencer will play the role of Cassie. A College of Charleston graduate, Spencer starred in “Hay Fever” as Sorel and in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” as Jolene.
Performances are 8 p.m. on Aug. 5, 6, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20 and at 3 p.m. on Aug. 7, 14 and 21. Tickets are $35 for adults, $32 for military/seniors and $25 for students. Order tickets online at footlightplayers.net or by calling the box office at 843-722-4487.
About The Footlight Players
The Footlight Players launched in 1931 with a series of one-act plays directed by Lt. Commander Charles Russell Price at the Charleston Navy yard. The series was such a success and drew such a following that The Footlight Players formally organized and incorporated in the fall of 1932. To this day, The Footlight Players continues to provide professional quality, affordable community theater for the Lowcountry at the historic Footlight Players Theatre, 20 Queen St. in Charleston. For more information, visit footlightplayers.net or call 843-722-4487.
